Fotoeins Fotografie

In Seattle, a friend in Ballard recommends a visit to their neighbourhood’s weekly farmers’ market. Despite the forecast for intermittent morning showers, I’m lured by any stroll through a market for bright harvest colours and freshly prepared food.

A slow meander through the stalls, letting curiosity be the guide. Fresh apples and pears here; ripe plump tomatoes there. From an assortment of red and yellow peppers; to an array of yellow and green gourds. Quickly, the appetite is on high alert. Quesadillas prepared fresh from the grill. Hot from the fryer, little donuts sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Happy dogs walking their humans; couples strolling with children; others sitting on the curb for a chat, nosh, and sip.

Ballard Farmers Market, Ballard Ave NW/NW Vernon Place. At right is the 1902 Scandinavian American Bank Building, home to the Ballard Inn.

A stand of plump tomatoes.

A meeting of great minds.

Gourds, Stoney Plains Organic Farm.

Potatoes, Olsen Farms.

Makings for a (cheesy) vegetarian quesadilla with cabbage, carrots, kale, and bell peppers on the grill (IG), Patty Pan Cooperative.

Patty Pan Cooperative.

Next to the Ballard Centennial Bell Tower.

Bergen Place, with flags recognizing Nordic nations: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden.

Pears and apples, Martin Family Orchards.

Peppers, tomatoes, and carrots (IG).

Curious and hungry, at market mini donuts.

I need me some fresh “market minis.”

“Phases of the donut”. We got 2 dozen: 1 with cinnamon sugar, 1 with powdered sugar.

I think early 20th-century German photographer August Sander would’ve had an interesting day here at the market.

Directions

Since 2000, the Ballard Farmers Market operates the entire year with fruit and vegetables entirely from within Washington State. Free to enter, the market is open every Sunday from 9am to 2pm, except Christmas Day. Shown above are visuals well before the 2020 pandemic; for your planned visit, the market has provided rules and guidelines in their healthy and safety plan (FAQ).

Public transport, 3 options:

•   express D-line bus, from downtown to stop “15th Ave NW/NW Leary Way”.
•   bus 40, from downtown via Fremont, to stop “Leary Ave NW/NW Vernon Place” or “NW Market St/Ballard Ave NW”.
•   bus 44, from University of Washington, to stop “NW Market St/Ballard Ave NW”.

I acknowledge my time on the traditional and ancestral land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish (Dxʷdəwʔabš) People past and present, and honour with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe. I made all images above on 9 October 2016 with a Canon EOS6D mark1. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-fCC.

(I’ve also described a springtime visit to a Saturday farmers’ market during a return visit to my adopted hometown of Heidelberg.)